Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary - Andrew Westoll


I am loathe to say too much about this book as Leo hasn't read it yet.  I will say that this is a fantastic book that explores the nature of invasive chimp research and even more importantly, how they are treated in their "retirement" years.  While providing useful facts, the book also retains a strong narrative which I enjoyed.  Furthermore, the character development (chimp and human) was also robust.

It is a testament to the quality of this book that I raced through it over the Christmas holidays.  I am usually much more plodding with my non-fiction reads.  Even people who don't typically read non-fiction are likely to enjoy this book and I therefore recommend it without qualification.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Breaking the Time Barrier: The Race to Build the First Time Machine

I got this book with an Amazon gift certificate that I got as a Christmas present. It wasn't a book that I was looking for initially, but was a recommendation from Amazon based on previous book purchases.

As the title suggests, (I don't think this will be much of a spoiler) the book is about the idea of building a real life time machine. The author discusses the idea of breaking the time barrier as it had first appeared in literature, and brings forward various chapters as time goes on, that shows the scientific progress that would supposedly enable mankind to build a time machine.

Each chapter actually does have very good science written into it. The book discusses various aspects of physics that are both proven and theoretical.  But it is what the author does with this information that I find a bit hard to believe. She basically takes good science and then dives down a rabbit hole to show that building a time machine is possible.  Essentially, I think she takes good science, and turns it into science fiction. I think that it is fair to say that Ms. Randles is a true believer in the idea of time travel, as the last chapter will attest to.

If the idea of this book was to expose the reader to good science through wild speculation and hyperbole, then I think that it does the job well, but if the idea is to make the reader believe that time travel is just around the corner, then I think it may be quite a long time...

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Iron Lady

Let's forget for a second that I really don't like Margaret Thatcher's politics, and let's forget for a second that a movie that condenses the life of a historic figure into about two hours is going to leave a lot on the cutting room floor. What we can't forget about this movie is the performance that will pretty much guarantee Meryl Streep a Best Female Lead award at the Oscars. She was absolutely flawless in this movie.

As you might have guessed by the blog title and the poster accompanying it, this movie is about Margaret Thatcher; where she came from, and who she is now. It is a very interesting portrait into the life of The Iron Lady. The movie goes back and forward through time to try to give to context to each story, but it works really well in this movie.

Aside from the fact that in her political life, she became tough as nails, one of the things that I enjoyed about this movie is her relationship with her husband Denis Thatcher, played with characteristic excellence by Jim Broadbent. I came away from this movie believing two things:

  1. Maggie was a hard ass that wanted nothing for the best for her nation.
  2. Maggie love her husband more than she loved Britain.
As mentioned earlier, Meryl Streep was outstanding in this movie, and Jim Broadbent was excellent as well. While the movie may only gloss over her life, it was still very interesting to watch.

5/5

Beginners

The more I think about this movie, the more I dislike it.

Don't get me wrong, the movie was very well acted, great directing, and what should have been an interesting story. But there is where the rubber hits the road. The story, which could have been quite enjoyable, went down in flames.

This was a sad movie. Not a depressing movie, a sad movie. The main characters were sad people who seemed to want to find some other sad people to share their life with, and make each other sad.

A quick plot synopsis is that Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is a very successful, good looking and well off artist who is very unhappy. Anna (Melanie Laurent) is a very successful, good looking and well off actress who is very unhappy. Oliver's dad, Hal (Christopher Plummer), is a senior who has recently come out of the closet after losing his wife, has some issues with his boyfriend's fidelity, and is diagnosed with inoperable esophageal cancer...Hal is absolutely over the moon with happiness! This whole movie was a big mix up!

I think what probably happened is that en route to production, the script fell out of its binder and all the pages got mixed up. Hence the people with reasons to be happy are now unhappy, and the people who should be unhappy are all smiles and giggles.

Seriously! The movie itself even mentions in its dialogue that Oliver and Anna obviously are too narcissistic in their unhappiness...or something to that effect.

Look, if you like a good story gone wrong, if you like the feeling of wanting to slap a character across the face to smarten them up, then please go and see this film. Otherwise, I'd recommend something a little happier...maybe the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach


After a bad run a couple months back, I seem to be on a winning streak again (at least with books; oh, and the Muppet Movie).  I guess it helps when you read a book that has been on so many end-of-year top 10 lists.  At any rate, I really enjoyed the world that Chad Harbach created in the Art of Fielding.  It reminded me of Skippy Dies in that you became a part of the characters' world and it's one that I would never otherwise experience.  For a few days I was immersed in and inhabiting the world of baseball players at a college in the US.

To put it in broad terms, this book tracks the life of several baseball players (and other members of the college community) throughout the course of a single season.  It touches on a range of interesting issues: the pressure that athletes are put under by themselves and others, the toll that athletics can take on a body, the perils of alternative lifestyles in a conservative environment, depression, and a myriad of others.  Because many of these issues are quite universal, it doesn't matter if you're a baseball fan, the book still resonates.  I don't think it would make my list of top-10 books of the year, but I did really enjoy it.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Hen's Teeth - Manda Kelly


I loved this book for what it was!  Thrillers are my guilty pleasure and this one had it all, including a health angle.  In this book, the main character is a doctor who is unofficially tasked with solving the murders of her former lover and her former mentor.  Her trusty sidekick is a "gothy" pathologist and together they solve the very unusual puzzle. It was a quick read and one that would be perfect for someone with a holiday in front of them.  Indulge in this smart thriller--you won't regret it.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The Muppets

Last week Kristie won two tickets to an advanced screening of The Muppets.  As I was pretty much raised on Cartoons and The Muppets as a child, I was very anxious to go. Even before winning the tickets, I was hearing really good things about the movie, especially from The Morning Stream podcast, which discussed the movie over the course of three separate days in one form or another.

We got to watch it in a new cinema, within The Embassy theatre. The Embassy might be familiar to those who know of The Lord of the Rings, as it is where the world premiere took place as well as will be the premiere for The Hobbit as well.

Ok, this isn't a review of the cinema, but I'll just quickly say that it was absolutely amazing! Small theatre, huge leather chairs, intimate setting...amazing. And now, back to the movie review.

WE LOVED IT!

I'll be honest, the last Muppet movie that I watched was The Muppets Take Manhattan; I had seen bits and pieces of some of the later ones when they aired on television, but I thought that they had jumped the shark. It seemed to be all about Rizzo the Rat and Gonzo...Kind of like when Bloom County became all about Opus, Bill The Cat, and Milquetoast the cockroach.  Sure it had some funny bits, but it seemed to have lost its edge. This movie however, despite not having the Late Jim Henson or even Frank Oz as the puppeteers, seemed to dig way back into its roots and come up with a story that was both funny, heartwarming and filled with jokes that would appeal to both children and adults.

After the movie, Kristie and I were talking, and she mentioned that there are many films/television shows from our youths that we use to love, but wouldn't pass the test when it came to relevance now-a-days. The Muppets, thankfully are just as relevant now as they were when we were kids. So, go to the movie, take your kids, and enjoy a bit of nostalgia.

5/5

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

What is Left the Daughter - Howard Norman


I read this book very quickly, which for me, can be a sign of a good book.  This book is told in letter-form from the perspective of a father (Wyatt) who is essentially telling his daughter the story of his life and all that went wrong in it.  The story begins as the lead character copes with the suicides of both his parents and then his subsequent move to live with his aunt and uncle in rural Nova Scotia.  World War II provides the back drop for the story and although the story takes place in Canada, the reader is keenly aware of how the war has affected everyone.  In particular, the paranoia and prejudice against any and all Germans was vividly illustrated (and had a profound impact on the novel's outcome).  All in all, this book held my interest because of the strong narrative that guides readers through Wyatt's life.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Time Machine


Title: The Time Machine
Author: H. G. Wells
Publisher: Yale University Press (October 26, 2010)

ISBN-10: 0812505042
ISBN-13: 978-0812505047


A while back, I read a supposed classic of science fiction: Fahrenheit451 which I didn't care for...at all. Recently however, I read another classic of science fiction: The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells.  What a great book!

I'm kind of a physics enthusiast, so whenever I happen upon a book/movie/story that incorporates time travel, I will generally have a bit of a problem with how it stacks up to the idea of time travel in physics. I'm not saying that this one doesn't have its issues, but one of the things that I thought made the story easier to imerse myself into was the fact that H.G. Wells didn't go into the details of how the protagonist built the time machine. Instead, he pretty much just said that he built a time machine; didn't explain how he did it, didn't explain the science behind it, nope! Basically said: Insert time machine here.

As mentioned, this made for a much richer story as you could simply enjoy the characters and not worry about the minutia of how things could have gone.

As you might have gathered, The Time Machine is about a time traveler and his adventures travelling through time.

I should point out that before reading the book, I watched the 2002 movie with Guy Pearce. While I enjoyed the movie, they took some serious artistic license with the book. What? Hollywood doesn't stick to the original story? I'm so surprised!  <--That was sarcasm!

As I mentioned, the book is really quite impressive, and while it doesn't leave a nit-picker like me without things to rail against, it does make a great page turner.

4/5

Arthur Christmas

Ever since I was a kid, I have always loved cartoons! Whether it be The Simpsons, Toy Story, or even old Bugs Bunny cartoons. Kristie would say that my tastes aren't discerning enough, but I would disagree. I think that while I would enjoy a bad cartoon, I can still appreciated that it should be scaled.  Which brings us to the newest cartoon we saw this weekend: Arthur Christmas.

Arthur Christmas is the new CG cartoon from Sony pictures. Nope, not Pixar, not DreamWorks, not even Disney, but Sony.

The movie is about the Clause family; the current Clause family.

  • Malcolm: The current Santa
  • Grand-Santa: The father of Malcolm who is often spouting off about the glory days
  • Steve: Son of Malcolm and the Santa apparent
  • and Arthur: The fish out of water, who loves Christmas with all hiis heart, but is a bit of a...well, a fish out of water, I guess.
The story is about the current Santa coming to the end of his days, as he has been Santa-ing for 70 years, and how Steve is getting ready to take over the family business.  Well, on what is suppose to be Santa's final ride, Steve, who basically is in charge behind the scene, managed to miss a single child's gift; which he thinks is an acceptable error rate.  Arthur disagrees, and it is up to Arthur, Grand-Santa, a plucky little wrapping elf, and a moth-eaten old reindeer to save Christmas for the little girl.

The story is suitable for both young and old, and there are some great jokes that will delight everyone peppered throughout the story. The only thing that I would criticize about the movie is that for a British film, it seemed pretty Americanized in its humour...a little less Wallace and Gromit, and a little too Shrek.

On the whole, even though it is a cartoon, and I'd rather watch a bad cartoon than a good movie, I'd give Arthur Christmas 4 out of 5 stars.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Don't you know what the night can do?

Oddly, I recently read two books back-to-back with the word night in the title...one was titled Night Wakings and the other was called The Night Book.  Each focused (somewhat) on the theme of disrupted sleep, though there was obviously more going on in each.


The first book was entitled Night Wakings and it is centered around Anna, a mother/academic who was spending the summer on an isolated island (near Scotland) with her husband and children.  The author, Sarah Moss, adeptly manages the tension between comedy and drama.  The comedic elements play out in Anna's relationship between her husband and children.  Anna is clearly sleep deprived, all the while trying to finish a book in order to honour her commitment as a research associate.  Her reaction to insomniac children and a somewhat ambivalent and/or ignorant husband are classic.  I love her dry wit.  The drama arrives with the discovery of an infant's skeleton and the subsequent attempts to discern how this skeleton came to be buried outside Anna's house on this remote island.  The story is layered with letters from the past that help to shed light on the mystery of the baby's remains.  All in all, a fantastic read that I appreciated for its keen intelligence.  Highly recommended!


A friend bought me this book to help kick start my immersion into New Zealand literature.  On the whole, a great introduction.  Charlotte Grimshaw is a very good author and the story arch is an interesting one.  In a nutshell, it looks at the wife of a man who is going to be the next Prime Minister of New Zealand.  However, as you'd expect, there is a fly in the ointment.  This woman has a secret that is eating her up inside and is causing her to make questionable decisions.  Added to this story is a Doctor with an unknown connection to this wife and his own ennui.  The one difficulty I had with this book is that all the characters were extremely wealthy and it was hard to relate to the life they led and to feel the full extent of their plights.  Still, a good back that kept me turning the pages.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Project NIM

As it turns out, I already saw this movie earlier this year. Of course they had a different title for it then: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The similarities of the fictional account of a chimp that was taken into a human's home to learn sign, and the true to life version of Project NIM are uncanny. Granted, there weren't as many explosions in Project NIM (spoiler alert), but some of the fallout regarding the chimpanzee are quite heart wrenching in both movies.

Basically, Project NIM is the story of a bunch of frigging idiots that decide take an ape into a human household and see what happens. If you asked the researchers of the study, they may say that it was a scientific experiment to see if an ape could learn human language and grammar. But I think my idiot comment stands.

Why? Because not one of the multitude of people who were involved in this study (save one: the drug smoking hippie...no, not that drug smoking hippie, the other one) had any knowledge about chimpanzee behaviour, and what might (would most definitely) happen when you bring a wild animal into a house or academic setting. No one involved in the study thought it might be a good idea to do a bit of reading into chimpanzee behaviour before hand; virtually every one of them admitted in interviews that they knew almost nothing about "monkeys".

Without spoiling the entire movie, lets just say that people were bitten, poop was flung, and a chimpanzee was mistreated.

I thought this movie was outstanding and I encourage anyone reading this (except for that one guy...you know who you are) to go and see this movie.

5/5

Friday, November 18, 2011

Flying Troutmans - Miriam Toews


I've read quite a few Miriam Toews books over the years and she is a good writer.  Her books have a quirky tone and even quirkier characters.

My latest read was the Flying Troutmans and while I liked it, I also found it had a frantic energy that didn't exactly make it a relaxing read.  I read somewhere that it bears similarities to Little Miss Sunshine and that is true to a point.  However, I think the end goal of getting Abigail Breslin to the beauty pageant gave Little Miss Sunshine more focus than that found in the Flying Troutsman, which seemed to go on tangent after tangent.  In this particular road trip, they were looking for someone, but I found that this goal was quite often lost amongst the text.   Worth picking up in a pinch, but if you're looking at Toews for the first time, try A Boy of Good Breeding instead.  

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter - Tom Franklin



After a raft of fairly literary novels, I was in the mood for something more action-oriented.  With that in mind, I picked up Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.  I was heartened by the fact that David Wroblewski (of the awesome Edgar Sawtelle-fame)  had endorsed it highly.

The book is essentially something of a mystery novel, with the main character (Larry Ott) having been accused of a heinous crime 25 years earlier. However, he was never convicted as the police could never pull together the requisite evidence.  Flash forward and another similar crime has occurred in this small Mississippi town.  Larry is once again a suspect.  The book goes back and forth in time to help readers understand what really happened 25 years ago, as well as in the present day.  Interspersed with Larry's story is that of the local constable (Silas "32" Jones), a former friend of Larry's.  The book describes Silas' criminal investigation during the present day, but also explores the relationship between these two men all those years ago.

I won't go into much more depth as I don't want to spoil the mystery, but I will say this is a well written book that provides some insight into the tensions between blacks and whites in Mississippi, while also providing readers with a compelling story.

Interesting side note: apparently, students in Mississippi learn to spell Mississippi like this: M-I-Crooked Letter-Crooked Letter-I-Humpack-Humpback-I.  An interesting approach to literacy indeed.

The Trip

Picture you and a friend on a one week road trip. Think of the places you'd stop, the food you would eat, the songs you sing, the endless bad impressions you would do in each other's company. Also think about the conversations you may have. The off the wall "What If" conversations, the explanations of topics that you consider yourself an expert in.  Think of how much fun you would have, but also think about how might get on each other's nerves a bit.

Well that, in a nutshell, is what The Trip is all about. You may think that this would  be the most boring movie ever, but luckily, this trip had a well paid editor who took only the best bits and left the rest on the cutting room floor.

The Trip should have you laughing from almost the first moment when Steeve Coogan clumsily invites his friend Rob Brydon along for a road trip tour of high class restaurants through out England. From pretty much then on in, the trip is nothing but their conversations, sing alongs, observances, etc. and it is hilarious!

This movie isn't for everyone as there are no car crashes, explosions, or even plot for that matter, but if you want to watch a good "Day in the life" comedy, I would totally recommend this.

4/5 Stars.

Contagion

Holy Crap, I'm never using another public bathroom, or even opening a door again

We just watched the movie Contagion, and as movies go, this is a true to life horror movie that could actually happen! I don't want to put too many spoilers in this review, but here's the plot: one person gets sick and as a result, the whole world pretty much goes to crap! I don't think I'm giving too much away; it is a story about a contagious disease after all.

Virtually every scenario they presented in this movie could very easily happen in real life: the spread of the disease, the panic among citizens, the crackpots pushing bogus cures, and of course the horrific death toll. What I found really interesting in this movie was how in the theatre, you suddenly became acutely aware of people sneezing or coughing.

The movie stars...people, they act, but that isn't the point of this review. This is a movie that everyone should see simply from a public health perspective. Go see it, and then go drink a bottle of Purell!

5/5

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Nemesis - Philip Roth


After a less than stellar run of books, I was pleased to pick up this one.  I'd been a bit intimidated by Philip Roth in the past, but the review of this book by one of my favorite bloggers had been so stellar and the topic was so compelling, that I couldn't resist.

Roth tells the story of the polio outbreak in Newark during the blazing summer of 1944.  His prose evokes the fear felt by children and their parents that they may contract polio.  The novel focuses in particular on one of the children's instructors (a playground coordinator) and his reaction to this epidemic.  It hones in on how polio influences his faith and how this equips him (or not) with the tenacity to cope in such a difficult time.  Roth also flashes forward in his novel to explore the fallout of polio many years later.  He speaks to the fact that polio need not make one a permanent victim and that for some, there is hope.

I found this book interesting in that this was a point in history that I knew little about.  I was fascinated by the fact that polio spread most rampantly during the summer.  I'd had  no idea and this pattern lies in contrast with other communicable diseases, like influenza.  I found myself wanting to read more of the medial literature to find out why.

All in all, I highly recommend this book and it has compelled me to pick up more Phillip Roth novels.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemmingway


Nothing much to say other than...ugh (and what a horrible cast of characters)!

Still Point - Amy Sackville & Last Woman - John Benrose

Although the stories are quite different, these two books both suffered a similar flaw and one that can often be quite fatal: the whiny narrator(s) phenomenon.  While the stories themselves were compelling enough, I couldn't engage with the characters.



Still Point sounded so promising on paper.  It told the story of a "great" romance between an arctic explorer and his wife, while also exploring the relationship and ennui of one of the explorer's descendants (it was this woman I found unbearable).  It eventually gets to the point, but by that time I didn't really care.



The Last Woman explores a love triangle in the context of a First Nations land claim in Southern Ontario.  I think that if the book had focused more on the land claim, it would have been a better book.  Instead, I found myself saddled with three characters who lamented the past and all that they'd lost.

I can't fault the writing of either of these books.  Both were filled with lovely prose.  It is unfortunate then that both were undone by the depressing characters.  They did elude to a mental fragility to help explain the female characters' despair, but this still did not help me enjoy the books any further.

Gillespie and I - Jane Harris


This book was a fair bit of fun.  I went into it expecting a bit of a page-turner and on the whole it delivered.  Though it may have taken a little bit longer to get to the point than I expected.  That said, the narrator was engaging and the world she created was an interesting one.  Set across two points in time (the late 1800's and the early 1930's), this book tells the story of the narrator's relationship with an artist's family and the fallout from a heinous crime. Worth a read.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese


For those with an interest in Ethiopia, this book is a great introduction.  It tells the story of two twins born and who reside on the grounds of an Ethiopian hospital.  They will both grow to be medical professionals (and are born to medical professionals), and so much of this book is viewed through a health lens.  However, it also touches on the culture of Ethiopia--from the food to its rich history.  The characters are all quite compelling and the portrayal of the twins' differences is fascinating.  After loving Galore, I felt lucky to pick up another enjoyable book so soon.

Galore - Michael Crummey


I take a great deal of time choosing the ideal holiday book and this must be one of the bests EVER.  I loved the story of this small Newfoundland community, with all its quirks.  It was really interesting to follow the generations through time.  And one of my favorite parts was when a doctor from the outside joined the community and was able to talk about them (at first) as a scientific observer.  He noted all of the genetic defects that resulted from the in-breeding that had gone on.  The characters were all sharply written and distinct.  There was a woman who had all her teeth pulled to keep the males at bay, a seeming narcoleptic, and a man who emerged from the belly of a whale.  I can't recommend this book enough...you will find yourself submerged in this sea community until you're done.  And even then, bringing yourself above water will be difficult.  This community is still with me, two months on...

Friday, October 21, 2011

Midnight In Paris

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I actually enjoyed a Woody Allen movie! I know! I can't believe it either!

A couple months ago, Kristie and her book club read the book The Paris Wife by Paula McCain.  Some of the others in the book club started talking about the movie Midnight in Paris that was coming out in the near future.  As it turned out, when the time arrived, only one person from the book club wanted to go, so they decided to drag the husbands along.  I've got to say, that I went in there pretty much kicking and screaming, but as it turned out, I found it pretty good on the whole.

Without too many spoilers, the story is about Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancee, Inez (Rachel McAdams) who are on a vacation in Paris when they bump into a couple friends of Inez: Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael Sheen).  Paul is an old professor of Inez that she use to have a crush on, and is, not to put too fine a point on it, a total prat! And Sheen plays the part really well.

Anyway, as the film goes on, in order to avoid mingling with Paul and Carol, Gil decides to take a walk around the city of Paris, a city that he adores and pines for whenever he is away.  On that night, at the stroke of midnight, Gil is inexplicably transported back in time to Paris of the 20s where he meets many of his idols: Hemingway, Picaso, Cole Porter, Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a host of others.  While on many of his blasts to the past, he begins to fall in love with  Adriana, (Marion Cotillard) a muse of Picaso, Hemingway, et al.  Without giving away the ending, lets just say, I like how it ended.

Like most Woody Allen movies, I had two issues with this one.  The first was the pairing of two people who's characters couldn't have lasted for five minutes together, much less long enough to be engaged.  The second was how Woody Allen does dialogue. Virtually all Allen movies have people stepping over each other's lines as they have pseudo-intellectual conversations about nothing in general, and the actor's seem to be encouraged to speak as if they every thought in their head has to exit through their mouth at the exact same moment.  There never seems to be any coherent thoughts that spew out of their mouths.

Despite these two flaws, like I've said a couple times, the movie is actually pretty good, and I'd recommend going to see it.

I give it 3/5 stars.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Jane Eyre

First Point of Order: This isn't a book review!

In addition to book reviews, we've decided to start reviewing the movies that we watch too!  And lets be honest, I don't think that I could ever get through the flowery language of Bronte.  Kristie could, but I couldn't.

Point Number Two: I liked it!  Actually we both liked it!  I do have a question about it however:

Was England really that bad back then?
Dickens, Bronte, Austin, et al, they all seem to basically say that unless you had money, you were pretty much treated like crap!  Its like living in Reagan's America in the 80's!  ZING!

Anyway, the movie starred and was brilliantly acted by Mia Wasikowska, who also played the daughter of two lesbian parents in The Kids are All Right.  The role of Rochester was played by Michael Fassbender.  I thought that he came across quite well as a grumpy aristocrat.  Rounding off the top roles was Judi Dench as Mrs Fairfax.

Without giving too much away to those who have never read the novel, or seen the BBC series, or watched this movie, or any other version...well, you get the point, there were a lot of adaptations of this novel.  It is a rags to riches story (actually, riches to rags to riches) of a girl named (spoiler alert!) Jane Eyre.  It follows her from her younger years where she is taken in by her aunt following the death of her parents (no, it isn't Batman).  The Aunt, being the child hater you'd expect in any Dickensian/Bronte novel, cast Jane out into an orphanage where she is beaten, deprived of food, scorned and ridiculed; again, very much like the Reagan years.  After leaving the orphanage, she takes a position as a governess for Rochester Fairfax, the romantic lead.

Not knowing anything about the story of Jane Eyre, I thought the story was, while depressing, very interesting.  And as I said earlier, I thought it was very well acted.

We give Jane Eyre 4/5 stars.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Ape House - Sara Gruen


A very bit disappointment after Water for Elephants.  While Gruen's writing style is still quite open and engaging (hence I finished the book), the story itself was somehow unusual and cliché.  Essentially, she tells the story of apes from a language lab who are kidnapped and made to perform on a reality television program.  Unusual, right?  However, the characters just seem so "stock".  The beautiful, insecure wife; the doting husband, the evil villain, the journalist who will do it all for a story etc., etc.

The Behaviour of Moths - Poppy Adams


I have an aversion to moths...their flitting about makes me nervous.  And they always want in the house!  As part of my aversion therapy, I thought to read this book ;).  While the moths didn't bug me (pun unintended) and their descriptions were somewhat interesting, the story itself was just okay.  It tells the tale of a recluse sister (Ginny) who has stayed behind on the family estate for years and studied moths.  Her sister returns home at one stage and this creates a great deal of distress for Ginny.  The family's history is revealed through Ginny's eyes and this sets the stage for what will happen between the two sisters.  A quick read, but I didn't come away loving this book.  Perhaps my aversion to moths was present in my subconscious...

Lost Highway - David Adams Richards


I've been remiss in my posting and am now catching up...  While David Adams Richards is unlikely to ever top the amazing Mercy Among the Children for me, Lost Highway is a an excellent read.  It's filled with all sorts of ethical dilemmas that keep you thinking.  Essentially, it stems around the idea of what happens when someone discovers the presence of a winning lottery ticket (not their's) and all the fallout that ensues when they try to claim it.  If you enjoy books with thought-provoking arguments, I think you'll enjoy this book.

Monday, August 1, 2011

The Siege - Helen Dunsmore


A while back, I read the wonderful Cellist of Sarajevo and was taken into a world of which I had been largely unaware--it took place during the siege of Sarajevo.  Dunsmore's book tells a similar tale (though in a very different way).  Dunsmore shares with us the story of a family trapped in St. Petersberg during the siege during WWII.  She describes the hardship and the starvation in such a way that you almost feel that you are there.  The Siege is a compelling window into an era that I was fascinated to learn more about (though, it is also very horrific at points).

Glass Harmonica - Russell Wangersky

This book takes place in one of my favorite places on earth...St. John's.   It starts out kind of as a murder-mystery, but essentially what Wangersky seems to do is peel the layers of a local community to see why this murder might have taken place.  It's told from the perspective of the residents (primarily) of Mackay Street and I found it fascinating.  It was a window into a micro-community and I think it really worked.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Elephants on the Edge


Title: Elephants on the Edge: What Animals Teach Us about Humanity
Author: G. A. Bradshaw Page
Publisher: Yale University Press (October 26, 2010)

ISBN-10: 9780300167832
ISBN-13: 978-0300167832
ASIN: 0300167830

I bought this book with great expectations for enjoyment. I was stepping out of my comfort zone in that it wasn't another book on skepticism, or a book about quantum/theoretical physics, but I still was looking forward to reading it as it was one of Scientific American's top picks.

Unfortunately, I found that I just couldn't get into it.  So much so, that I just couldn't finish the book.  It isn't that the subject matter was uninteresting, it is more the writing that the author delivered.  I just didn't find it compelling.  Wait, that isn't entirely true. There were bits and pieces that I found quite interesting, but on the whole, I found the writing boring.

I personally, would only give this book 1 out of 5 stars.

To anyone who disagrees with me, I do like elephants, but I found it boring...sorry.

Treasure Island


Title: Treasure Island
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Publisher: Public Domain Books

ASIN: B000JML7EC

I remember reading this way back in elementary school. But it had been so long since I read it that as it turned out it was one of those stories that you know, but don't really know.

Over the many years since reading the story, I had lost virtually all of the finer plot points as my memory gets filled with other day-to-day junk, and I have to make room by getting rid of the old junk.  Hence, my loss of everything up until about grade six.  I figure, by the time I reach 80, I'll only have about a 30 second recall of memory left in my head.

I quite enjoyed reading this book again, and while it is a book for the younger reader, I could totally appreciate the time and dedication that Stevenson put into the writing.  The dialogue, while not Shakespearean, seems to capture what life was like in Jim's world.  One thing that I found quite surprising, is the description that Stevenson writes for Long John Silver, does not match (at all) how many actors seem to portray the character.  The Long John of the book a very commanding character, and in many ways a chameleon; morphing in order to fit the situation he was in at any given time.  Many actors seem to take quite a comedic tone with the character, often oafish.  I like the literary character much better.

I give Treasure Island 4 out of 5 stars.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

How I Became a Famous Novelist - Steve Hely


My second venture into reading on a Kindle...it's possible I'm still reading too quickly as compared with a print novel, so must do another trial.

To the book itself...  I thought that this book was cute, but very forgettable.  This is unfortunate given that it's now been about three weeks since I finished it.  I will say that I felt a bit like I was reading something akin to chick lit and that made me a shade nervous.  However, that does mean it was a nice light read.  In a nutshell, the main character seeks to write a bestselling novel as revenge against his ex-girlfriend (now getting married to someone else).  He uses a unique technique to do this, however.  He analyzes the bestsellers list, notes the common components and pulls them all together into his book.  The rest of the book follows his subsequent misadventures.

A light read and not a bad read...good enough for summer vacation.

Cold Earth - Sarah Moss


This is the first book I've ever read about Greenland...but if they are all as good as this one, I can see a new reading trend coming.  I found this book fascinating.  Moss captured the bleakness of the environment so well, along with the desperation of the characters.

This story revolves around an archaeological dig in Greenland, and is told from the perspective of each character (though some get more play than others).  One character in particular is plagued by "ghosts" of Greenland-past, which worries her team members for a range of reasons.  As the summer moves on, the time for them to be picked up arrives--however, nobody comes.  The cold and lack of food makes things increasingly dire.  I hurtled towards the end of the book, desperate to find out their fate.

All in all, an excellent book and a great introduction to the Greenland landscape.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Rupture - Simon Lelic



It's been a while since I've read this now, so my memory could be a bit hazy...  That said, I do remember thinking that this book was quite average.  It kept me interested enough, but certainly didn't compel me to pick it up either.

It tells the story of a police investigator looking into a school shooting.  In particular, it examines the role that bullying and the lack of response from authority figures played in the shooting.  Lelic also draws parallel comparisons between the school shooting and the young female investigator's experience on the police force, which I thought was a bit contrived.  I am starting to wonder if this type of book has limited appeal for me--I also was in the very small minority who did not like We Need to Talk about Kevin.

Essentially, not a bad book but also not a great book.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Emperor of All Maladies - A Biography of Cancer


This was an amazing book.  I learned so much while reading it, finding it very accessible, but at the same time it doesn't talk down to you.  Mukherjee roughly divides his book into sections describing cancer treatments, prevention, and origins.  I enjoyed the section on prevention a great deal and found his explanation of how tobacco became a known carcinogen to be fascinating.  However, learning about some of the early cancer treatments was also disturbingly compelling as well.  I just could not fathom some of the treatments that were in place.  The genetics/origin section was a bit tougher going as the technical terms became more ubiquitous.  Nonetheless, it was still done in a manner that was not difficult to follow (you simply had to concentrate on the terminology a bit more).  Overall, this book was amazing and should be a must read for most.  Even if you are fanatical fiction reader like myself, I believe that this book will appeal.

5/5 stars

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Cool Water - Diane Warren


This book won the Canadian Governor General's award last year.  Not surprisingly then, it is a very well written book.  As I've attested to before, I tend to prefer plot-driven, rather than character-driven books and for me this is where Cool Water fell down.  The book did not have the forward momentum that keeps me riveted to the page.  This was possibly compounded by the fact that I was taking a break from the amazing, but dense Emperor of All Maladies; I think I was looking for something to just pull me along.

Despite my critiques, the characters are very interesting--from a despondent bank manager to a lonely farmer to a scattered farm wife (etc.).  For those who love character-driven literature, this is worth picking up.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Paris Wife - Paula McCain



This fictionalized book tracks the love affair and subsequent marriage between Ernest Hemmingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson.  They married when Hemmingway was very young (early 20's) and Hadley was approaching 30.  They live in a world that it is hard to imagine inhabiting if you are not an artist.  There is the obvious drinking, but also the affairs and betrayals. Hadley herself is much more traditional than the other artists (who include F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein) and believes in true love.  This will be put to the test through their bohemian lifestyle.

It was some of the little things in this book that I found particularly fascinating.  Hemmingway and Richardson were seemingly dirt poor and yet had a nanny to look after their baby.  They also seemed to take epic vacations; although these seemed to occasionally to be funded on the backs of other "trust fund" artists.

I thought that this book was a great read, one that I found it difficult to put down (also fun to learn a little more about the early Hemmingway and how his work evolved).  This is an all-occasions book! Do give it a go--it won't disappoint.

5/5 Stars

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein


This book was suggested by a friend and fellow dog-owner.  I think that the strength of this book is that parts really do resonate with anyone who's owned a dog, from picking out your perfect match to the unexpected "acting out".  The book is told from the perspective of Enzo (a dog); the book tracks Enzo's life with his family.  There are highs and lows for this family and it is interesting to see how Enzo reacts to it all.  His frustration at being unable to communicate verbally was quite touching, and it was funny to see how he tried to make up for this with physical gestures.  This was an easy-to-read book that would be a welcome addition to your vacation reading.

4/5 stars

Cooking for Geeks

Cooking for Geeks
Title: Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food
Author: Jeff Potter
Publisher: O'Reilly Media

ISBN-10: 9780596805883
ISBN-13: 978-0596805883

Like many of the non-fiction books that I read, this book was brought to my attention through the Skeptically Speaking podcast.  Basically, it is a book about food science.  While it does contain several recipes, it is not simply a recipe book.  It is more geared towards people who are interested in how the food we eat, becomes the food we eat.  So instead of simply saying something to the effect of "bake on the middle rack at 180 C for 30 minutes", it will tell you what is happening while it is baking for 30 minutes.  It discusses the chemical compounds and their interactions while baking, it will discuss what is happening in the leavening process, it will discuss why a steak tastes so good, when cooked medium rare.

While I did come away with quite a few tips for cooking, and I really liked learning about the chemistry behind the cooking, I don't think that there is much I would use this book for now that I have completed reading it.  The only thing that I might do, is refer back to it if I decide to wing it while baking.  (e.g. referring to the acidity/alkaline nature of fruits/veggies, and what will happen when I combine them).

I think that this book would be quite interesting for people who like figuring out how things work, rather than simply following instructions.  Actually, within the book itself, it pretty much says that it is geared towards hackers.

Long story short (too late), I liked the book, but it wouldn't be for everyone.

Let the Great World Spin


This book was very well written; however, it read much more like short stories, which never resonate entirely with me.   It takes place during the earlier 1970's in New York, during the time that Philippe Petit was doing his tightrope act across the twin towers (one of the mechanisms the author uses to die the stories together).  Essentially though, McCann tells a number of stories that are connected via the characters' relationships to someone who meets an untimely demise at the beginning of the book.  Not surprisingly, some stories are better than others.  The tale told from the perspective of a prostitute was actually among my favorites...the character was just so real.  I will say that McCann is adept at capturing different characters' voices.  This book is worth a go for those who do like the short story genre.

3/5 stars

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Sea Captain's Wife - Beth Powling


What a great book!  It was a rollicking good time on the open sea.  This book takes place during the late 1800's, when a young wife and her daughter take off on an excursion with her Sea Captain husband around the Horn of South America.  They experience everything you might imagine...wicked storms, the doldrums, hunger, pirates, and more.  If you want a book with a great narrative, and a compelling heroine, I would encourage you to give this book a try.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Brooklyn - Colm Toibin



This was a very nice story of a young immigrant, who arrives from Ireland to (you guessed it) Brooklyn.  Toibin's description of her journey across the Atlantic are excellent.  Initially unsure, she adapts quite quickly when she meets her future husband.  However, a death in the family sends her back to Ireland and it is here that she feels the pull of the old and new.  Toibin's writing is incredibly easy to read, but that does not make the story any less compelling or important.  He is simply very adept at pulling readers through the text.


4/5 Stars

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Title: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Author: Mary Roach
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

ISBN-10: 9780393329124
ISBN-13: 978-0393329124

After reading my first book by Mary Roach: Stiff, I was expecting a lot from this book.  Being the skeptic that I am, I had heard about this book through a couple different skeptical blogs and podcasts.  After hearing various reviews, I was anxious to dive into it.

In some ways the book followed the format of Stiff.  In this book Mary Roach relays various different encounters throughout the book in which she looks for evidence into life after death.  She delves into reincarnation, hauntings, mediums, ghost hunters, and near death experiences, along with a few other diversions.  Each encounter she writes about would delve into the subject's back story providing an interesting portait of the people she is writing about.

I have to say however, that I found Stiff much more interesting than Spook.  I think it might be due to the fact that I didn't really learn very much from Spook, whereas I learned a great deal from Stiff.  Don't get me wrong, I liked the book, and find Mary Roach to be a wonderfully talented and amusing author.  I just didn't gain a whole lot from this particular book.  If I had to give it a rating between one to five (and that is what I have to do on this blog), I'd give it a 3 out of 5.  As Kristie likes to say about many movies she watches: It was entertaining but forgettable.

Skippy Dies - Paul Murray



After reading Skippy Dies, I felt like I had spent the last week as an adolescent boy.  It was an interesting experience to say the least (given I'd never been in that position before).  Paul Murray does an excellent job of exploring life at an all-boys English boarding school, one that is on the cusp of becoming progressively more secular.  This book explores the impact that the death of a school-mate has on these boys, as well as the events leading up to the death.  This book manages to be touching, without pandering.  The reader doesn't get everything they want in the end, but that's a good thing.  I never like knowing exactly where the author is going to take me.  Although long, I read this book quickly and found many parts "laugh out loud" funny.  If you're looking for something that is both intellectually stimulating and a roaring good read, I recommend Skippy Dies.  It's a recent reading highlight!

4/5 Stars

Friday, April 15, 2011

Stanley Park - Timothy Taylor



I used to think that vacation reads had to be lighthearted romps.  Over time, I am finding this to be less true.  While they can be lighthearted, what is most important to me is a strong narrative.  Timothy Taylor's Stanley Park was a perfect choice for my trip to Doubtless Bay (New Zealand).  Taylor tackles what is obviously a very tough issue in this book: homelessness (which as a Canadian ex-pat, I am aware is a huge issue in Vancouver).  He does this with great sensitivity, pointing to the unique stories that each person has to tell and also their unique relationship to Stanley Park.

It's actually quite a hard book to describe as it has many layers.  Essentially, it is told from the perspective of a young chef (Jeremy) in Vancouver.  He is struggling to keep his restaurant afloat, while also dealing with this anthropologist father, who has been living in Stanley Park in an effort to tell the stories of its homeless inhabitants.  As the book progresses, Jeremy's struggle to keep his restaurant is juxtaposed against Jeremy's growing relationships with his father's homeless friends.  Through his cooking, Jeremy tries to stay connected to the land (i.e., through cooking local).  His father compares Jeremy's role to his own as his father is trying to understand how the inhabitants of Stanley Park are connected to the land.

While growing his restaurant helps to progress the story, it is Jeremy's interactions with his father's friends that makes this book something quite special.  An excellent book that compels and makes you think (and at points, makes you hungry).

5/5 Stars.  

A Meaningful Life - L.J. Davis


This was a really great read that I first heard about on the Kevin from Canada blog.  In many ways, it tells the story of the American Dream gone astray.  Ultimately, the main character (Lowell) becomes disgruntled with his current life, believing it not to be meaningful.  He sets out to create a meaningful life for himself by purchasing and "doing up" a house/manor in a very poor part of Brooklyn.  For this reason, there are interesting lessons about the challenges of gentrification.  Davis describes what can and does go wrong when Lowell obsesses over restoring one part of Brooklyn to its former glory.  In the process, Lowell himself becomes fascinated with the former owner of the manor, and seemingly seeks some of this man's notoriety in his own life.  The result is a darkly comic novel, with wry observations about the failure to live up to self-expectations.

For me, the really enjoyable part of this book came at the beginning.  There was simply so much humour infused in the early parts of the text, and the author's observations of character were extremely insightful.  I loved the way he described his father-in-law in the quote below.  You can absolutely picture people like him out there.
Apparently, he was meek and craven through and through, the kind of man who would always strive industriously to remain beneath any situation that might arise or sort of creep up on him, the kind of man who went through life continually ducking his head.  Lowell got the impression that if somebody finally came and told him it was time to go to the gas chamber, he would hop right into the truck, asking them to call him Leo.
All in all, this was an excellent book.  And the text is so timeless that I felt it could have been written yesterday (though it was actually first published in 1971).

4/5 Stars.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson


Others have described this book as "cute" or "charming" and I can't disagree.  It definitely is those things.  While an enjoyable enough read, I don't think it's something that will stick with me.  It tells the story of the intercultural romance between a retired major and a shopkeeper of Pakistani descent.  It goes through the typical building of the romance (albeit made more interesting with quirky characters), the typical obstacle to true love, and then [spoiler alert] ultimate fruition of the characters' romantic goals.  Reading this book won't change your life, but it isn't a bad way to spend a few evenings.  Simonson draws a compelling portrait of a rural English community, allowing you to enter an alternate reality for a few hours (unless of course you live in rural England).

3/5 Stars

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig


I totally loved this book!  I felt that one of its strengths was that it had a little bit of something for everyone.  It had a serious side, looking at issues relating to immigration in London.  There was a mystery that ran through it; and for the softies, it also had a romantic side.  Seriously, this book has something that will appeal to almost everyone.

On a personal note, I think I also related to the book as I'm an immigrant to New Zealand.  While there were the sad cases of the refugees in Hearts and Minds, there were also more typical immigrants as well.  Although I'm Canadian, I could relate to the case of the American living in London.  There's something about trying to find your way in a culture that's similar in many ways, but also very different.  It is really about finding your comfort zone and being true to your identity.  I think back to my years in the Intercultural Communication Lab, and Berry's model of acculturation.  It's about integration--keeping the Canadian part of yourself intact, but incorporating what it means to be a New Zealander (though no, I still don't do rugby).

By all means, grab this book.  As I've said, it's got something for everyone.

5/5 Stars

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Never Let Me Go - Does the Movie Stack Up?

Many moons ago I read and really enjoyed Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I remember it as a sombre read, with a twist.  Granted it's been ages since I've read it now, but I think I remember the feeling of reading it enough to make a brief comparison.  The movie holds true to this sombre mood, but is somehow less compelling.  I didn't feel a sense of urgency to understand what was going on (to be fair, this might be because I've read the book).  The other issue that I had related to Ruth's character.  In the movie, she seemed absolutely awful.  I didn't get this sense in the book.  Perhaps her desperation translated better on paper.  At any rate, it wasn't an awful movie--but the book was just so much better.  As is often the case (though not always--Girl with a Dragon Tattoo was a fabulous movie), the book out-classed the movie.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Last Night in Twisted River - John Irving


Much like its title, Irving's book takes you on many twists in turns in the characters' lives before reaching the inevitable climax.  The premise of the novel is interesting--following a father and son on the run from the (corrupt) law after the son accidentally mistook the constable's girlfriend for a bear and killed her.  The book doesn't read like your classic fugitive novel; instead, it gives you a glimpse of this family's lives over the course of around fifty years.  There are times when "the law" closes in, but this isn't the dominant focus of the book.  Instead, it looks at the relationship between father and son; though, this is influenced by their role as fugitives.  Overall, this is a well written and often compelling book.  The main flaw in my mind is the book's length.  It simply seems to go on too long and needed to be more tightly edited.  That said, it's worth picking up and does take you into an interesting world, filled with unique and well described characters.

4/5 Stars